Office building complexes often have Uniform Sign Design or (USD) to ensure that no one tenet oversteps their bounds with signs that don’t meet the wishes of the building owner. A USD instructs the business owner if they can have illuminated or non-illuminated letters, if it is acceptable to have your letters on a raceway or if they must be directly connected to the building, or if a sign can contain graphics or just text.
As time passes and technology changes the USD may just be the thing that needs to change with the sign of the times. This is the case with the Minnesota Valley Building located at 10800 Normadale Blvd., in Bloomington, Minnesota. The old USD written in the 1970s called for only dimensional letters, mounted individually on standoffs with a height not to exceed 12 inches. The only choice of color was a dark gold which caused the letters to blend into the dark brown awning from any viewable distance.
Recently a new tenet moved into the complex and made note to the building owner that he didn’t want to waste money on a sign since the current USD only allowed letters not visible from the street. This defeats the purpose of a sign, which is to inform and direct potential clients to your location.
We held meetings with the building owner and the Bloomington City Permitting Office. With the client’s needs taken into consideration, the USD was changed to allow dimensional letters in a variety of colors to be mounted to three-millimeter white bi-bond panels to allow for greater contrast and visibility.
Sometimes a facelift is just what is needed to help your business succeed. We’re willing to help you change the rules to make that happen. A sign you can’t see is just as good as no sign, and after all, a business with no sign, is a sign of no business.
